If you’ve been using the Internet for more than 20 minutes, you have no doubt received a number of emails with subject lines similar to these:
“Learn how to make $10,000 a day, from home, while watching TV!”
“Your millionaire uncle Mombutu Rouse has passed away in Nigeria, and he has left you 6 million US dollars!”
“Photoshop CS3 (an $800 program) for only $89!”
Of course these “spam” emails don’t just trickle in, they arrive dozens, even hundreds at a time, making it almost impossible to wade through the mess in order to pick out the handful of legitimate emails that might be hiding somewhere in your inbox.
It simply amazes me that the people who send out this garbage are actually able to convince enough people to click on the links and fall for their scams to make it worth their while to engage in such a sleazy business, but apparently they do or they would stop doing it. Add in the fact that junk emails deliver a huge portion of all computer viruses to unsuspecting recipients and I’m sure you’ll agree that something has to be done about it, and quickly.
Spam has been the scourge of the Internet for years now, and in spite of Congress’ attempts to put a stop to it, the problem is constantly getting worse instead of better. While there is no realistic way to stop spam from flooding your email account, there are a few things you can do to keep many of them out of your inbox and prevent your computer from “catching” a virus:
1 – Install high-quality anti-virus and anti-spyware software programs and configure them to automatically update their threat databases every day. Personally, I use Webroot Spy Sweeper and the free version of AVG Antivirus.
2 – Create message rules in Windows Mail, Outlook Express, or whatever email client you happen to be using to divert the majority of your incoming spam directly to the Deleted Items folder. Click here for an excellent tutorial on creating rules in Outlook Express (while not exactly the same, the procedures are similar for most email clients).
3 – Turn off the “Preview Pane” in your email client. This is very easy to do, but you’ll need to follow the instructions provided in the “Help” section of your particular program.
4 – Never, ever open an attachment that you weren’t expecting to receive, even if the email’s “From” line indicates that it came from someone you know and trust. Email headers are extremely easy to fake, and one of the favorite tricks of spammers, scammers and other scumbags is to make dangerous emails appear to have come from someone you have corresponded with in the past.
If you think an attachment might actually be from the person indicated in the “From” line, simply pick up the phone or send them an email and verify it before opening the attachment. A hassle you say? Just wait until your system gets infected by an insidious virus or worm and you’ll quickly gain a whole new understanding of the term “hassle”!
5 – Did I mention keeping your anti-virus and anti-spyware threat databases up to date? Ok, just checking…